Killing of White Farmer Sparks Tension in South Africa as Murder Trial Begins
A tense standoff between white farmers and black activists gripped the South African town of Senekal on Friday as two men accused of killing a white farm manager were to appear in court.
More than 100 police officers patrolled the area in front of the courthouse in the Free State province and used barbed wire to separate the rival groups.
Sekwetjie Mahlamba and Sekola Matlaletsa were to appear in the court on charges of killing Brendin Horner, 21, on Oct. 1.
About 250 white farmers gathered to protest the killing, charging that police do not adequately protect white farmers.
In an earlier court hearing last week, a group of white farmers stormed the court and burned a police vehicle.
The country’s leftist opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, mobilized about 1,000 of its supporters to challenge the white farmers in front of the court.
The leftists, many dressed in the EFF party’s red uniforms and berets, sang songs and shouted slogans calling for South Africa’s land to be returned to black residents and for white farmers to be killed.
EFF shouting , “Kill the boer, the farmer!” in Senekal. #Senekal #BrendinHorner #Senekalprotest pic.twitter.com/W2ndnbMJIy
— Francois Hugo (@franhugo_) October 16, 2020
EFF leader Julius Malema came to Senekal on Friday was expected to speak to his supporters after the court hearing.
While most white farmers and organizations representing them have called for farm killings to be made a priority crime, the government claims white farmers are not being targeted, saying the violence is a result of South Africa’s relatively high crime rate.
South Africa has one of the highest crime statistics in the world, with a murder rate of just over 58 deaths a day.
The country’s official crime statistics indicate there were 49 farm killings in the 2019/2020 financial year.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his weekly letter to the nation Monday, condemned Horner’s killing.
The Senekal Magistrate’s Court heard evidence that the two men applying for bail for allegedly killing farm manager Brendin Horner had allegedly been heard boasting about the killing.https://t.co/4YPCqTc3wv
— News24 (@News24) October 16, 2020
However, he claimed the farm killings were part of the bigger crime problem.
“Those people who think that farm attacks affect just a small part of our population are wrong. The farming community is an integral part of our economy,” Ramaphosa wrote.
The Senekal murder has also raised the issue of land ownership in the country.
Although South Africa now has racial majority rule, a great deal of South Africa’s best farmland is owned by white farmers. Many black farmers were evicted from their land when the country was ruled by a white minority.
Parties such as the EFF are urging the government to seize white-owned land without compensation and return it to black families.
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The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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